Tunisian court bans 'Wonder Woman'

A Tunisian court has banned the film "Wonder Woman" which stars Israeli actress Gal Gadot, more than a month after it had been scheduled to open at cinemas in the Arab state, a legal source said Wednesday, according to AFP.

The film was to have been screened at two venues in Tunis in early June but the showings were "suspended" following a complaint from the nationalist Al-Chaab party.

The court finally decided to impose the ban last Friday, prosecution spokesman Sofiene Sliti said, although the verdict was only disclosed to the media this week without a reason given for the judgement.

Al-Chaab had demanded the film be banned because Gadot had defended Israel's counterterorism Operation Protective Edge on Facebook.

The case sparked controversy in Tunisia, with supporters of the ban calling for "no normalization" of ties with the Jewish state and others criticizing censorship.

In 1996, Tunisia and Israel opened interest sections in each other's country, but Tunis froze relations in 2000 in protest against Israel's response to the Second Intifada.

In 2014, Tunisia's tourism minister faced criticism from parliamentarians over a trip to Israel she took in 2006 to take part in a UN training program for Palestinian Arab youths.

She, along with another minister, also faced censure later that year after being accused of promoting "normalization" with Israel. Those motions were withdrawn.

Tunisia is not alone in banning “Wonder Woman”. Lebanon has also banned the film on the grounds of a long-standing boycott of Israel.